OT- Is torture ever justified in coercing information from suspects?

[Losttrak]

Just saw this poll at CNN and I am used to very conservative responses on that site, but strangely most people voted in favor of torture! What do you think about it?

[txwingchun]

Torture a man and you can get him to confess to anything

[Former castleva]

Txwingchun brings some point up in ways,
as it has been used the "bad way",thus to get out a confession of something that never was there.
Sort of a complex question to answer in a simple manner.

[Oso]

why torture when there are plenty of drugs to get a person to
spill the beans.


except it's kinda fun, but besides that

[David]

Some 'thoughts' I may have had: -

People will always seek to justify it to themselves or to those who's opinion they care about...

I never heard of anyone enjoying it.

It's against the Geneva Convention and the International/Euro (?) Human Rights Act.

Amnesty International aren't impressed with anyone's excuse for using it.

Some things you just aren't meant to have. Torturing people into giving up their secrets is an example of going counter to the biblical commandment "thou shalt not steal".

It's ok for Uncle Sam to torture Arabs but not vice versa?!?!

That goes for truth-drugs, aswell.

-David

[red5angel]

I think it should be used for siblings and sex partners only....

[Oso]

that's what I meant....

[Black Jack]

Yes. Under the right circumstances torture has a place in interogation tactics. It's a tool like truth drugs or other less invasive psychological methods. From what I understand that level of interogation seems to be only used when under a serious time restraint that could result in the achievement of a serious threat.

Interogation has come a long way since the chinese water torture.

[BrentCarey]

Torture and drugs are both unreliable. Understand TX, that we are not really talking about confession by an individual, but instead looking at gaining some wider-reaching information. Currently, the US military uses interrogation methods that are designed to provide motivation for the subject to tell the truth, and to use clever methods which make it difficult to avoid being caught in a lie.

The bottom line is that the most reliable method is to make the subject want to share accurate information. This is the theory behind torture - that it is more desirable to talk than to be tortured. To this degree, torture works. You can nearly always get a subject to talk using torture, but they may or may not tell you the truth. What's more, once you go down that road, you cannot backtrack and become a trusted party.

A modern interrogation, when performed by a professional, is a bit of a cross between a job interview and a counseling session (in terms of tone). The key here is "when performed by a professional." Problems arise when someone other than a professional interrogator performs the interrogation. They tend to not be familiar with the applicable rules, laws, and conventions, and are often too close to the situation to be calm and objective.

While Geneva and Hague conventions apply which forbid the use of torture, these conventions are extremely difficult to follow to the letter. I personally do not see a moral imperative which would preclude the use of torture against a POW in a conflict which would not preclude killing that same person prior to his/her POW status.

However, it is simply rarely useful to do so.

[jesper]

Torture is a primitive way of obtaining information. And besides there is nothing you can get a person to confess with torture, which cant be obtained with other means.

Modern days interogators can get any subjects to speak, its only a matter of time. A saying goes that under perfect conditions any man will talk within 24-48 hours using modern interogation methods. Of cause most of the time, you dont have perfect conditions.

[BeiTangLang]

Interesting that you bring this term up.
If you look at what they do, it is torture.
Not physical, but mental.
Torture is torture no matter how its done.

[kungfu cowboy]

Things will be infinitely better all around when the sun goes supernova.

[Ford Prefect]

For the average man: no.

For a man that is a known international terrorist who has already killed thousands of people and was planning to kill thousands more, then yes. It will save many innocent lives. Pass me the knife.

[Laughing Cow]

I don't think that torture ever is justified.

It is an archaeic method when they had NO other way of gathering information to ascertain the Truth.

I also agree that Torture will produce the results that the torturers want and thus those are by definition invalid.

Cheers.

[Laughing Cow]

Originally posted by Ford Prefect
For the average man: no.

For a man that is a known international terrorist who has already killed thousands of people and was planning to kill thousands more, then yes. It will save many innocent lives. Pass me the knife.

With that type of thinking wouldn't it also be better just to nuke any Country that the US has disputes with??

i.e.: Iraq, Iran. N. Korea, France, Germany, etc.

Cheers.